Room divider with rod securing means



Aug. 8, 1967 K. F. MARZ 3,334,459

ROOM DIVIER WITH ROD SECURING MEANS Filed Feb. z5, 1965 5 sneetsheet 1 Mfg s INVENTOR Aug. 8, 1967 K. F. MARz ROOM DIVIDER WITH ROD SECURING MEANS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 25, 1965 Q/m/J/ ATTORNEY Aug. 8, 1967 K. F. MRZ` Y3,334,459

ROOM DIVIDER WITH ROD SECURING MEANS Filed Feb. 25, 1965 f5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig.. 6 25 yj'rfw l wm INVENTOR United States Patent O ROOM DIVIDER WITH ROD SECURING MEANS Karl Friedrich Marz, Kehl (Rhine), Germany, assignor to Karl Danzer K.G., Kehl (Rhine), Germany Filed Feb. 25, 1965, Ser. No. 435,219 Claims priority, application Germany, Mar. 13, 1964, D 43,874 16 Claims. (Cl. 52-227) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A room divider wherein a panel is placed between elongated sole and cap plates which are respectively adjacent to the floor and ceiling of a room. The panel is provided with vertical channels receiving rods which carry at their ends means for biasing the plates away from the adjoining edges of the panel so that the plates bear against the door and ceiling and the rods locate the panel between the two plates.

The present invention relates to room dividers, also called partitions or partition walls. More particularly, the invention relates to a composite room divider which normally comprises a plurality of adjoining panels and extends all the way from the floor to the ceiling of a room.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide a comparatively simple, inexpensive, lightweight, soundproof, heat insulating and readily transportable room divider which may be erected or dismantled by semiskilled persons. Another object of the invention is to provide a room divider of the just outlined characteristics which may be assembled of prefabricated parts, which may be produced and assembled in any desired size or shape, which may be of the bearing or non-bearing type, and which is useful not only in oice buildings but also in commercial establishments, private homes, apartment buildings, factory halls and many other types of structures.

A further object of the invention is to provide a room divider which may be assembled and fixed in requisite position in such a way that it does not damage the fixed elements which are engaged by its components, which may be assembled and dismantled with the help of simple tools, and which may form a very rigid and fully self- Supporting structure capable of resisting substantial compressive and/or other deforming stresses.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a room divider whose stability and resistance to deformation may approach or even exceed the resistance of a conventional partition which is made of brick or the like, and which may be assembled without resorting to vertical columns and similar auxiliaries which are indispensable n many conventional room dividers of which I am aware at this time.

Briefly stated, one feature of my invention resides in the provision of a room divider which comprises an elongated sole plate and an elongated cap plate adapted to be placed respectively against iixed floor and ceiling elements in a room, anchoring means for securing spaced portions of the plates to the respective xed elements, a panel having lower and upper edge portions adjacent to the respective plates and provided with a plurality of open-ended channels extending between the two plates, and elongated rods extending through the channels and having end portions provided wit-h means for biasing the plates away from the respective edge portions so as to locate the panel between the plates and to simultaneously press such plates against the respective fixed elements.

In accordance with another feature of my invention,

3,334,459 Patented Aug. 8, 1967 the panel may comprise two or even more superimposed sections which are provided with registering channels, and some of these channels may accommodate additional rods which are provided with means for pressing the sections against each other so that all sections remain in a common vertical plane. The yfirst mentioned rods may be provided with additional biasing means which also serve to press the sections against each other. The biasing means preferably comprises nuts which mesh with threaded end portions of the rods, and the nuts preferably bear against annular washers which are interposed to protect the material of the plates and of the edge portions. The plates and the edge portions of the panel may consist of hard wood, and the panel is preferably provided with coverings in the form of sheets made of plywood or the like.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic -of the invention are set forth-in particular in the appended claims. The improved room divider itself, however, both as to its construction and the mode of erecting the same, together with additional features and advantages thereof, will be best understood upon persual of the following detailed description of certain specific embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. l is a vertical section through a portion of a room which accommodates a room divider embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal section through a portion of the room ydivider substantially as seen in the direction of arrows from the line II-II of FIG. l, with the rods omitted;

FIG. 3 yis a similar horizontal section through a portion of a room divider and illustrates the distribution of rods in the channels of a panel section;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a connection between two abutting sole plates;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged partly elevational and partly vertical sectional view of the left-hand portion of the room divider shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a vertical section substantially as seen in the direction of arrows from the line VI-VI of FIG. 8;

FIG. 7 is a transverse vertical section as seen in the direction of arrows `from the line VII-VII of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a transverse vertical section as seen in the direction af arrows Ifrom the line VIII-VIII of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 9 is a partly elevational and partly vertical sectional view of a connection between two adjoining panels of the room divider.

Referring first to FIG. l, the room divider is installed in a room having a fixed ceiling element 34, a fixed door element 33 and two fixed side wall elements 36 (only one shown). This room divider comprises a series of closely adjacent composite panels which are disposed in a common vertical plane to form a continuous partition extending between the two :side wall elements 36. Each panel comprises a lower section 1 and an upper section 2. The sections 1, 2 of each panel are coplanar and completely seal the corresponding portion of the space between the iixed elements 33, 34. As a rule, the lower sections 1 will be prefabricated to have the same height h and the upper sections 2 will be cut to size so as to fit into the space between the upper edge portion of the corresponding lower section 1 and the underside of the ceiling element 34. In many instances, the lower sections 1 by themselves suffice to form a complete room divider so that the upper sections 2 may be dispensed with. The upper end faces of the lower sections 1 are disposed in a common horizontal plane and are also coplanar with the upper edges of lower sections which, if necessary, form a second room divider (not shown) extending, for example, at right angles to the room divider of FIG. 1.

As shown in FIGS: 2 and 3, each section comprises a at plate-like body 3 which 4consists of extruded composition material having good heat insulating and sound absorbing characteristics. Such composition plates (also called particle boards according to the extrusion system) :may be produced at low cost and exhibit substantial resistance to all types of stresses which arise in a room divider. The body 3 is extruded in such a way that it forms a series of vertical -channels here shown as bores 4 Which reduce its weight and are arranged in two parallel .rows 5 and 6. Each row may comprise the same nurnber of channels 4 and, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, each chan-nel in the row 5 may be aligned with a channel in the row 6. The plate-like bodies 3 are provided with edge portions in the form of top, side and .bottom strips made of hard wood and best shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 to 9. Thus, each plate-like body 3 is provided with an upper edge portion or top strip 8, a lower edge portion or bottom strip 7, and ltwo side edge portions or side strips 9. The two sides of each plate-like body 3 are covered with one or more coverings each consisting of one or more veneers of plywood or the like, and such coverings preferably overlie the exposed sides of the strips 7, 8 and 9. Each strip is provided with a longitudinally extending groove 11 machined into that surface which faces away from the plate-like body 3 and adapted to receive an elongated tongue 12 or 13 which serves to locate the section in a frame structure including an elongated sole plate 21, an elongated cap plate 22 and a side plate 23. The vertical tongue 13 shown in FIG. 2 extends into the groove 11 of a side strip 9 and int-o the aligned groove 24 machined in the adjacent surface of the side plate 23. The upper horizontal tongue 13 is inserted into the groove 11 of the top strip 8 on the upper section 2, and this tongue 13 also extends into the groove 24 of the cap plate 22. The lower horizontal tongue 13 is inserted into the groove 11 of the botton strip 7 on the lower section 1 and it also extends into the groove 24 of the sole plate 21. The tongue 12 is received in the groove 11 of the top strip 8 on the lower section 1 (see FIG. 7) and it also extends into the groove 11 provided in the underside of the bottom strip 7 on the upper section 2.

The top and bottom strips 8, 7 are formed with vertical bores 14 which are preferably eccentric with reference to but still in registry with the channels 4, i.e., the bores 14 actually constitute the end portions of the channels 4 so that each channel in a two-section panel 1, 2 comprises two channels 4 and fo-ur bores 14, It is preferred to drill the bores 14 in close proximity to the respective covering 10, i.e., close to the respective side of the plate-like body 3. For example, the diameter of a channel 4 may exceed two or three times the diameter of a bore 14. Some of the channels 4 receive elongated metallic rods 15 which extend with little, or Without any, clearance through the corresponding bores 14 and serve a series of purposes including urging the sole plate 21 away from the cap plate 22, urging the top strip 8 of the upper section 2 in a ydirection toward the bottom strip '7 of the lower section 1 so that the two sections are pressed against each other and remain in a common piane, and locating the panel 1, 2 in the space between the plates 21, 22. The upper and lower end portions 17 of the rods 15 are provided with external thread-s to take nuts 28 which serve to bias the cap plate 22 away from the top strip 8 on the upper section 2 and to simultaneously bias the sole plate 21 in a direction away from the bottom strip 7 of the lower section 1. The nuts 28 bear against annular metallic washers 27 which are accommodated in recesses 26 provided in the underside `of the cap plate 22 and in the upper :side of the sole plate 21, see FIG. 8. The washers protect the material of the plates 21, 22.

The threaded end portions 17 of the rods 15 are long enough to mesh with additional nuts 20 which bear against annular washers 19 and tend to compress the panel in a sense to bias the bottom :strip 7 of the upper section 2 against the top strip 8 of the lower section 1. The washers 19 are accommodated in recesses 18 provided in the upper side -of the top strip 8 on the upper section 2 and in the underside of the bottom strip 7 on the lower section 1, y

see FIG. 8.

The tips of the threaded end portions 17 on the rods 15 extend into registering bores 25 provided in the cap plate 22 and in the sole plate 21. The diameter of each bore 25 approximates or equals the diameter of the registering bore 14. When the nuts 28 are screwed tight to bear against the washers 27, the outer sides of the plates 21, 22 are pressed against the fixed elements 34, 33 to anchor the room divider in position. Additional anchoring means are provided and mounted in a manner to be described later.

The rods 15 extend through one group of channels 4, preferably in such a way that the rods extending through channels 4 in the row 5 alternate with rods which extend through the channels 4 of the row 6, -see FIG. 3. A relatively small number of `rods 15 will suice to hold the panel 1, 2 in requisite position, i.e., a large number of channels 4 and .a large number of bores 14 may remain empty. Such empty channels and bores may serve to accommodate one or more conductors 4a one of which is indicated in FIG. 2. The .conductors 4a may consist of wire to conduct electric current or they may consist of tubular stock -to convey `a gaseous or liquid medium.

A second group of channels 4 and bores 14 accommodates a series of elongated metallic rods 16, These rods are somewhat shorter than the rods 15, see FIG. 8, and each rod 16 is preferably accommodated in a channel which is in transverse alignment with a rod 15, see FIG. 3. The purpose of the shorter rods 16 is to clamp the sections 1, 2 together 'and to keep lthem in a common vertical plane. The end portions 17 of the rods 16 are provided with external threads to take nuts 20 which bear against washers 19'. The washers 19 are accommodated in recesses 18 provided in the upper side of the top strip 3 on the upper section 2 and in the underside of the bottom strip 7 on the lower section 1. The diameters of the rods 15 preferably exceed the diameters of the rods 16. The tips of the end portions 17 may but not need extend beyond the corresponding nuts 20. I-t was found that the panel offers greater resistance to many type of stresses if the rods 15, 16 are closely adjacent to the sides of the sections 1 and 2.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show that the plates 21, 22 are adjacent to but spaced from the respective strips 7, 8 so as to form gaps 50 which are concealed by strip-like moldings 29. Similar moldings 29a are -provided along the exposed sides of the side plate 23, see FIG. 2. The moldings may be nailed to the plates 21, 22, 23. The width of the gaps 50 is selected in such a way that the operators may assemble the panel with the plates 21, 22 before the panel is moved into a vertical plane, and the nuts 28 are thereupon rotated in a sense to move the plates 21, 22 away from the corresponding strips 7, 8 and to press the plates 21,l 22 against the xed elements 33, 34. In other words, the width of the gaps 50 suffices to allow for shortening of the room divider when the latter is to be installed in or removed from -the space between the ceiling element 34 and floor element 33. In assembling the room divider, the operators will proceed as follows: y

In the iirst step, the tongue 12 is inserted into the groove 11 of the top strip 8 on the lower section 1, and the latter is assembled with the upper section 2 so that the tongue 12 extends into the aligned groove 11 in the bottom strips 7 of the section 2. In the next step, the operators introduce a requisite number of rods 15, 16 and apply the nuts 20, 20 so that the nuts bear yagainst the washers 19, 19 and press the abutting strips 7, 8 against each other. The two sections now form .a rigid unit. In the next following step, the operators apply the nuts 28 so that each thereof is closely adjacent to or actually abuts against the corresponding nut 20, and the washers 27 are placed over the nuts 28. The openators then place the plates 21, 22 in position so that the threaded end portions 17 of the longer rods 15 extend into the aligned bores 25. The height of the thus assembled room divider is somewhat less than the distance between the floor element 33 and ceiling element 34. This difference suffices to allow for erection of the room divider so tha-t the underside of the sole plate 21 is placed in full face-to-face abutment with the upper side of the floor element 33. Once the room divider is properly loc-ated in its vertical plane, the nuts 28 are rotated in a sense to drive the washers 27 into the corresponding recesses 26 whereby the plates 21, 22 bear against the fixed elements 33, 34 and hold the room divider in requisite position. In the next following step, the operators insert the tongues 13 between the plates 21, 22 and the adjacent strips 7, 8 so as to insure that the width of the gaps 50 remains unchanged, and the operators also apply the moldings 29, 29a to conceal the open sides of the gaps 50 and to conceal the side plate 23.

As shown in FIG. 5, the end portions of the plates 21, 22 are provided with cutouts or grooves 31 which extend inwardly from the end face of the respective plate and receive fillets 30 which are secured to the fixed elements 33, 34 by expansion anchors 32 of known construction. Such expansion anchors normally comprise a slotted sleeve which is inserted into an expansion anchor hole extending through the fillet 30 and into the fixed element 33 or 34, and a threaded bolt or screw which is driven into the sleeve -to expand the latter into strong frictional engagement with the material surrounding the expansion anchor hole. Similar fillets 30 provided in the aligned grooves of adjoining sole plates or cap plates. FIG. 4 shows two sole plates 21, 21a arranged end to end and formed with registering grooves 31 which receive -a fillet 3f). This fillet is secured to the floor element 33 by an expansion 'anchor 32. Of course, once the left-hand portion of the room divider is properly installed between the fixed elements 33, 34, the next panel is simply placed into the same plane and the plates 21a, 22a of the next panel are moved into registry with the plates 21, 22 in a manner as shown in FIG. 4 for the plates 21,. 21a. One lower section 1 of the room divider shown in FIG. 1 is replaced by a door 51 installed in a door frame 52. The side plates 23 of the superimposed sections 1, 2 forming the left-most panel of the room divider shown in FIG. 1 are secured to the side wall 36 by a series of horizontal anchoring members 35 best shown in FIG. 5. The width of the plates 21-23 preferably equals the thickness of a panel (from the outer face of the covering at one side of a panel to the outer face of the covering 10 at the other side of the same panel) so that the moldings 29, 29a abut against the top edge portions and side edge portions of the corresponding coverings.

By way of example, the plate-like body 3 may have a thickness of about 70 mm. and may be provided with channels having a diameter of about 25 mm. The thickness of the coverings 10 may be about 4 mm. Such panels and sections were found to have a sound absorbing value in the range of 30 db, The connection between the upper sections 2, 2a and lower sections 1, 1a of two adjoining panels is shown in FIG. 9.

The room divider of my invention may be utilized in office buildings, particularly in modern ofce buildings which consist of a skeleton frame and of prefabricated panels inserted into the frame to form the side, top and bottom walls of the rooms. However, the improved room divider is equally useful in stores, factory halls, apartment houses, private homes and many other types of buildings. It may be of the bearing or non-bearing type, i.e., it may actually prop the ceiling or it merely supports itself. The plates 21-23 may be installed without scratching or otherwise damaging the walls of the room, and the entire room divider may be installed or dismantled within short periods of time by semiskilled persons and by resorting to simple tools.. Once the room divider is properly installed in the room, its strength approximates that of a conventional wall and its heat insulating and sound absorbing characteristics are very satisfactory for use in otiices or private homes.

The distance between the oor and ceiling of a room in a commercial establishment or in an office building normally exceeds 2.5 meters. Therefore, the height of lower sections 1 may be in the range of 2 meters, and the height of upper sections 2 is then selected in such a way that the assembled room divider will extend all the way from the ceiling element 34 to the floor element 33.

If the operators desire to remove the room divider, they simply remove the moldings 29 to expose the gaps 50 and to gain access to the nuts 28 which must be rotated in a sense to move toward the nuts 20. .The entire room divider is then readily tiltable into a horizontal plane and may be taken apart for transportation to -another locale of use. The holes for the anchors 32 and 35 can be filled in in any known manner so that hardly any trace remains in the fixed elements when the room divider is transferred to another location. As a rule, the expansion anchors 32 are applied at regular intervals, preferably at the ends of the plates 21, 22, and the anchors 35 are placed at regular intervals between the ends of the side plates 23.

The tongues 12, 13 which connect the adjoining sections serve to maintain the sections in a common plane and to transmit compressive stresses. The tongues 12 (which connect the upper sections 2 with the lower sections 1) and the vertical tongues 13 which connect the adjoining lower sections or upper sections replace conventional columns which are necessary in many types of known room dividers. The nuts 20, 20 and 2S also serve to align the edge portions of superimposed panels so that the strips 7 and 8 are in accurate alignment with each `other to enhance the appear-ance of the room divider.

The sections of my improved room divider may be prefabricated in large numbers, together with the frames S2 and doors 51 so that all such components may be assembled at the locale of actual use. The same applies for window frames, windows and other components which are normally used in room dividers. All such parts may be prefabricated in large numbers to insure that each thereof may be replaced by a prefabricated part if the need arises.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications Without omitting features which fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic and specilic aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A room divider, comprising an elongated sole plate and an elongated cap plate 'adapted to be placed respectively against iixed oor and ceiling elements in a room; a composite panel having lower and upper edge portions adjacent to the respective plates 'and provided with a plurality of open-ended channels extending between said plates, said panel consisting of at least two superimposed sections; and elongated rods extending through said channels and having end portions provided with means for biasing said plates away from the respective edge portions so as to locate said panel between said plates and to press the plates against the respective fixed elements.

2. A room divider as set forth in claim 1, wherein said superimposed sections have abutting edge portions provided with registering grooves and further comprising a tongue received in said grooves to maintain said sections in a common plane.

3. A room divider as set forth in claim l, wherein said panel is provided with a plurality of additional openended channels parallel with said first named channels, and further comprising yadditional rods extending through said additional channels and having end portions provided with means for biasing said sections against each other.

4. A room divider as set forth in claim 3, wherein said rods consist of round metallic stock and wherein the diameters of said first named rods exceed the diameters of said additional rods.

5. A room divider, comprising an elongated sole plate and an elongated cap plate adapted to be placed respectively against xed floor and ceiling elements in a room; a panel having lower and upper edge portions adjacent to the respective plates and provided with a plurality of open-ended channels extending between said plates, said panel comprising a plurality of superimposed sections; and elongated rods extending through said channels and having end portions provided with first biasing means for urging said plates away from the respective edge prtions so as to locate said panel between said plates and to press the plates against the respective fixed elements, said end portions being provided with additional biasing means engaging the respective edge portions so as to press said sections against each other.

6. A room divider as set forth in claim 5, wherein said end portions are provided with external threads and wherein said second biasing means comprises nuts meshing with said end portions and `urging said sections against each other.

7. A room divider a set forth in claim 6, further cornprising annular washers interposed between said nuts and the respective edge portions, said washers being accommodated in recesses provided in said panel.

8. A room divider, comprising an elongated sole plate and an elongated cap plate adapted to be placed respectively against fixed floor and ceiling elements in a room; a panel having lower and upper edge portions adjacent to the respective plates and provided with two parallel rows of aligned open-ended channels extending between said plates; and'elongated rods extending through some of said channels and having end portions provided with means for biasing said plates away from each other so as to locate said panel between said plates.

9. A room divider as set forth in claim 8, wherein the rods which extend through the channels in one of said rows alternate with the rods which extend through the channels of the other row.

10. A room divider, comprising an elongated sole plate and an elongated cap plate adapted to be placed respectively against fixed floor and ceiling elements in a room; a panel having lower and upper edge portions adjacent to the respective plates and provided with a plurality of channels extending between said plates and having smaller-diameter end portions provided in said edge portions, said edge portions comprising top and bottom strips of hard wood and the remainder of said panel consisting of a plurality of superimposed plate-like sections and the diameters of -channels in said sections being a multiple of the diameters of the end portions of the channels in said strips; and elongated rods extending through said channels and having end portions snugly received in the end portions of the respective channels, the end portions of said rods being provided with means for biasing said plates away from each other.

11. A room divider, comprising an elongated sole plate Iand an elongated cap plate adapted to be placed respectively against fixed oor and ceiling elements in a room, said plates having end portions provided with grooves and Cil with means for anchoring the plates to the respective fixed elements, said anchoring means comprising fillets provided in said grooves and expansion anchors extending through said fillets and into the respective fixed elements; a panel having lower and upper edge portions adjacent to the respective plates and provided with a plurality of open-ended channels extending between said plates; and elongated rods extending through said c-hannels and having end portions provided with means for biasing said plates away from each other.

l2. A room divider, comprising an elongated sole plate and an elongated cap plate adapted to be placed respectively against fixed iioor and ceiling elements in a room; a panel having lower and upper edge portions adjacent to the respective plates and provided with a plurality of open-ended channels extending between said plates; elongated rods extending through some of said channels and having end portions provided with means for biasing said plates away from the respective edge portions of said panel; and conductor means provided in at least one of the remaining channels.

13. A room divider, comprising a pair of superimposed sections forming a room dividing panel, said panel having upper and lower edge portions and being provided wit-h groups of elongated open-ended channels extending between said edge portions; first elongated rods extending through one group of said channels and having end portions provided with biasing means engaging said edge portions so as to press said sections against each other; additional elongated rods extending through another group of said channels and having threaded end portions extending beyond the respective edge portions of said panel; an elongated sole plate and an elongated cap plate adapted to be placed respectively `against iixed floor and ceiling elements in ya room, each of said plates being adjacent to but spaced from one of said edge portions; and nuts provided on the end portions of said additional rods and engaging said plates to urge the same away from each other and into engagement with the respective fixed elements, the length of said last named end portions and the distance between said plates and the respetcive edge portions being such that said plates may be separated from the respective fixed elements and the panel tilted from and into a substantially vertical plane when said nuts are rotated in a sense to move toward the respective edge portions of said panel.

14. A room divider, comprising a pair of aligned cap plates adapted to be placed against a fixed ceiling element, said plates having aligned grooves; a fillet received in said grooves; anchoring means securing said fillet to said ceiling element; a pair of aligned sole plates adapted to be placed against a fixed floor element in registry with said cap plates, said sole plates having aligned grooves; a second fillet received in the grooves of said sole plates; second anchoring means securing said second fillet to the floor element; a pair of vertical panels each having an upper edge portion adjacent to one of said cap plates and a lower edge portion adjacent to one of said sole plates, said panels being provided with open-ended vertical channels extending between the respective cap and sole plates; and elongated rods extending through said channels and provided with means for biasing said cap plates away from the respective sole plates so as to press such plates against the respective fixed elements and to simultaneously locate said panels between said plates.

15. A room divider as set forth in claim 14, wherein each of said 4panels -comprises two superimposed sections and further comprising additional channels provided in said panels and additional rods extending through such additional channels, said additional rods having means for biasing the sections of the respective panels `against each other so that all of said sections are located in a common plane.

16. A room divider, comprising an elongated sole plate and an elongated cap plate adapted to be placed respectively against fixed floor and ceiling elements in a room; References Cited a panel having lower and upper edge portions adjacent UNITED STATES PATENTS to the respective plates and provided with a plurality 740,954 10/1903 van Noorden 49 317 of channels extending 4between said plates and having 3,033,330 5/1962 Fowles 52--241 X smaller diameter end portions provided in said edge por- 5 tions, said end portions being eccentric with reference to A FREIGN PATENTS the remainder of the respective channels; and elongated 82,453 1956 Denmark.

rods extending through said channels iand having end 1,178,632 1958 France.

portions snugly received in the end portions of the respecv tive channels, the end portions of said rods being provided 10 JOHN E- MURTAGH, Primary Examml with means for biasing said plates away from each other. 

14. A ROOM DIVIDER, COMPRISING A PAIR OF ALIGNED CAP PLATEDS ADAPTED TO BE PLACED AGAINST A FIXED CEILING ELEMENT, SAID PLATES HAVING ALIGNED GROOVES; A FILLET RECEIVED IN SAID GROOVES; ANCHORING MEANS SECURING SAID FILLET TO SAID CEILING ELEMENT; A PAIR OF ALIGNED SOLE PLATES ADAPTED TO BE PLACED AGAINST A FIXED FLOOR ELEMENT IN REGISTRY WITH SAID CAP PLATES, SAID SOLE PLATES HAVING ALIGNED GROOVES; A SECOND FILLET RECEIVED IN THE GROOVES OF SAID SOLE PLATES; SECOND ANCHORING MEANS SECURING SAID SECOND FILLET TO THE FLOOR ELEMENT; A PAIR OF VERTICAL PANELS EACH HAVING AN UPPER EDGE PORTION ADJACENT TO ONE OF SAID CAP PLATES AND A LOWER EDGE PORTION ADJACENT TO ONE OF SAID SOLE PLATES, SAID PANELS BEING PROVIDED WITH OPEN-ENDED VERTICAL CHANNELS EXTENDING BETWEEN THE RESPECTIVE CAP AND SOLE PLATES; AND ELONGATED RODS EXTENDING THROUGH SAID CHANNELS AND PROVIDED WITH MEANS FOR BIASING SAID CAP PLATES AWAY FROM THE RESPECTIVE SOLE PLATES SO AS TO PRESS SUCH PLATES AGAINST THE RESPECTIVE FIXED ELEMENTS AND TO SIMULTANEOUSLY LOCATE SAID PANELS BETWEEN SAID PLATES. 